Finishing touches are being put on new homes under construction last month in Carlsbad, Calif. / Lenny Ignelzi AP

by Associated Press, AP

by Associated Press, AP

Sales of new homes rose in April to the second highest level since the summer of 2008 while the median price for a new home hit a record high, further signs that housing is recovering.

New-home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 454,000 in April, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That was up 2.3% from March and just slightly below January's 458,000.

Both January and April had the fastest sales rates since July 2008.

The median price of a home sold in April was $271,600, the highest level on government records going back to 1993. The April price was 8.3% higher than in March and 13.1 percent higher than a year ago.

With the April increase, sales are now 29% higher than a year ago, but sales are still below the 700,000 level considered healthy by economists.

The strength in April was led by a 10.8% rise in sales in the West. Sales in the South were up 3% but sales fell 16.7% in the Northeast and were down 4.8% in the Midwest.

Sales of previously owned homes rose in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million, the highest level in 3½ years.

Greater demand, along with a tight supply of available homes for sale, is also boosting prices in most markets and encouraging more construction.

Applications for permits to build homes rose in April to the highest level in nearly five years. While construction of new homes and apartments slipped a bit in April, the drop came one month after construction topped 1 million for the first time since June 2008.

Higher prices tend to make homeowners feel wealthier. That encourages consumers to spend more, which accounts for 70% of economic activity.

"Higher prices of houses and other assets, in turn, have increased household wealth and consumer confidence, spurring consumer spending and contributing to gains in production and employment," Bernanke said in an appearance before the congressional Joint Economic Committee.

Several major homebuilders have reported strong annual increases in orders for the first three months of the year, Ryland Group Inc., said that its orders in April jumped 59% from a year earlier.

Though new homes represent only a fraction of the housing market, they have a sizable impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue, according to data from the National Association of Home Builders.

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